Full Sun, Partial Sun/Shade

Acidic, Drought, Loamy, Moist, Sandy, Well Drained

Grouse like to eat the buds and needles and find white fir a good roosting tree. The seeds are eaten by squirrels, rodents, chickadees, crossbills and Clark's nutcrackers. Deer browse on seedlings, buds and needles, and porcupines gnaw on the bark.

White fir is one of the 40 members of its genus worldwide—nine in North America. Its common name is descriptive of the foliage, whereas its scientific name is not too helpful. Abies is simply the ancient Latin word for fir trees, and concolor means "together, or of one color." This wild mountain resident has no outstanding credits to its name in the lumber business. Long ago, naturalist Donald Peattie predicted the real glory of this species. "Rather does the future of this tree lie in its value as an ornamental," he wrote in 1953. Today it is a favorite for urban landscaping.